Liquids-separating device



April 125 192 1.

INVENTOR QY ATTORNEYS Patented Apr. 12, 1927.

UNITED STATES- PATENT f OFFICE.

JOHN comment, or LAKEWOOD, onro, ASSIGNOR r ran nancooxa wrncox courm, or. saxonnnmnwunnsnr, a conrona'rron or nnwannsnr.

- LIQUIDS-SEPARATING 'nnvrcn.

Application filedf'Angust 10, 1821. Serial No. 491,096.

. My present invention relates to devices for the separation of-two fluids'of difli'erent specific gravities, and particularly sucha device as may be applied to the separation.

of oil and water. v

One'of the objects of my invention is-to provide an apparatus of the character described, in which a continuous Separation of a mixture of the two fluids may be carried on. Another object of my invention is to' as Fig. 1, but showing the operating conditions as they will normally exist; Fig. 3 is an outside view of the upper part of the arrangement shown in Fig. 1;Fig. 4 is a plan of Fig. 3, and Fig. 5 isa section on the.

line 7-7 of Fig. 1.

In the drawings the same reference characters refer to similar parts-in the several views.

In the illustrative arrangement, which is an apparatus adapted .to separate oil and water, a tank 10 w 'ch is relatively long and of relatively small area is provided with a vertical tube or pipe 11 extending froma point near the bottom of the tank ,10 to a point near its top. Atthe top of the pipe 11 is a chamber 12 having a continuation or air vent 13 running closely to the top of the tank 10. i

Projecting from the side wall of the chamber .12 is a water-outlet pipe 14-, hav-.

ing inside of the chamber an upturned end 15 which is flat and at right-angles to the axis of the tanklO. The pipe li projects through the walls of the tank10.

Projecting through thewall of the tank 10 is an oil outlet pipe 16 having its inner end projecting upwardly and terminating in aflat end 17 located at a fixed distance from'the end 15 of the pipe 14. Supported above the end 17 is a mushroom 18 extending over the end 17. Throu h the cover of the tank 10 may be inserte an inlet pipe 19, the.cover having a-hi ed portion 20 with a hole-through which t epipe 19 may be inserted. The lower end of the pipe 11 is supported from the bottomof the tank .10 by a member 21.

The operation of in device depends on the fact that by provlding the pipe 11, a pair of columns of fluid are provided which tend to become balanced. When the inlet pipe 19 is open and the mixture ofoil and water passes into the tank 10, the oil will come to the surface, the pipe 11 containing only water, since it draws from the bottom of the tank 10. As soon as the column of water-in the tube 11 reaches the level of the top of the pipe 15, the water will flow out through the pipe 15-. If only water passed through the pipe 19, the level outside of the pipe 11 will be gradually raised until the 1 level of the end 17 is reached, when the oil ontop of the water will pass into the pipe 16'and be drawn'oif. Pipes 14 and 16 are made large enough tocarry oil the portions of oil and water coming through the pipe 19.

Under normal conditions with, 'say, oil of 18 Baum mixed withthe water, the operating condition shown in Fig. 2 W111 soon become normal and remain so, so long as substantially the same mixtures of oil and water are passing through the inlet pipe 19, with the level of the plane of division between the oil and 'water at, say,

the line AA of-Fig. 2. The lighter the oil, the higher this. level will be before the oil begins to flow over the top of the pipe 16, the various levels for the apparatus 11- lustrated being indicated in Fig. 1 at the lines" BB,-CC and DD. By providing the mushroom 18, the possibility of the mixture of oil and water passing directly into the pipe 16 is prevented, the incoming fluid being caused by this mushroom to spread over the surface of, the fluids and the tank 10 to be separated before passing into their respectivea outlets.

B- arranging the inlet pipe 19 above the mus iroom 18; 'the incomingoil and water is broken up into relatively small dro s and this facilitates the removal of fine y divided particles of oil from the water.- The from the water.

through the water tend to sweep out other relatively small drops of water carrying these small particles of oil pass down through the mass of oil on the top of the column, thus permitting these small oil particles to be caught and retained by the mass of oil or to be washed out of the water drops, as it were. Moreover, by spacing the end of the inlet pipe 19 a considerable distance above the mushroom 18, this breaking up into drops is facilitated by the splashing which results and the water drops have considerable velocity. Consequently, any small oil particles not removed by passing through the layer of oil are carried down a considerable distance into the water in the tank so that time is given to permit them to separate These particles, rising smaller particles to which they adhere. The total result is a substantially entire separation of the oil from the water. This is particularly important when the device is used to separate oil from boiler feed water, because of the importance of removing all of the oil from the water before sending it into in Fig. 2'will obtain and the respective fluids.

will flow evenly over the tops of the flat ends 15 and 17, respectively. If through some accident, a sudden increase in the oil coming through the pipe 19 is produced, then there'will be a tendency to raise the total levels of the fluids in the tank 10. Since the tops of thepipes 14=-and 16 are level, however, the operating conditions will not change because of this, as Would be the case, for instance, if the entrances to these pipes were on the side through holes, the active area of which would-vary with the rise of the levels of the fluids; This sudden rise of the total levels, however, would force the column of water in thetube 11 somewhat above the end 15", and then, when the incoming supply through the inlet 19 is shut oil, the levels will fall to the positions with the level of the oil at the level of the end 17, but with the water level in the pipe 11 somewhat below the end 15. When a normal incoming flow is again resumed, no water will flow through the pipe 14 until a suificient amount of oil and water have entered the tank 11 to form a column outside of the pipe 11 to balance the pressure inside that column when its level is at the end .15.

The arrangement shown in the drawings is merely illustrative and may be varied within wide limits.

an apparatus in which onlyia relatively small total quantity of the fluids will be held, but in which the separationmay take place readily. By having the tank very long so that the height of the respective fluid columns will be comparatively high,' a

turned.

I claim 1. In a separator for removing oil fro a mixture of oil and water, a tank arranged to contain water with a layer of oil floating thereon, 'said tank having a water outlet and an oil outlet above the level of the water outlet, an inlet arranged to deliver. the mixture of oil and Water above the layer of oil in the tank, and means to break up the entering mixture into relative small drops and to prevent the entry of such drops into the oil outlet.

2. In a separator for removing oil from a mixture of oil and water, a tank arranged to contain water with a layer of oil floating thereon, said tank having a Water outlet and an oil outlet above the level of the water outlet, an inlet for a mixture of oil and water above the oil outlet, and a splash plate beneath said inlet and arranged to prevent entry of drops into the oil out-let.

JOHN COLEMAN.

By having the tank relatively long and narrow, I have provided greater diflerence between the levels of the v 

